A day in the life of a South African boxing sensation

South African boxing star Kevin Lerena has built a career defined by discipline, evolution, and an unyielding refusal to give up, qualities that have carried him from the rugby fields of Johannesburg to the world’s biggest boxing stages.

His career highlights include multiple world and regional titles, high-profile challenges against top heavyweights, and a successful transition across weight classes.

One of his biggest victories came in May 2025, when he defended his WBC Bridgerweight title with a dominant third-round TKO over Serhiy Radchenko in Pretoria, solidifying his status as a world champion in the division. 

Another pivotal win was in May 2023, when he outpointed Ryad Merhy by unanimous decision to claim the WBC Silver Bridgerweight title, a crucial step in his successful transition across weight classes.

Additionally, his September 2017 split-decision victory over Youri Kalenga to win the vacant IBO Cruiserweight title marked a turning point, establishing him as a world-class contender and setting the stage for six successful title defenses.

With a professional record of 31 wins (15 by knockout), 4 losses, and no draws as of mid-2025, he has established himself as a dangerous weapon in the ring, earning the nicknames “The KO Kid” and “2 Guns.”

In a wide-ranging interview with Newsday, Lerena reflected on his early sporting life, his transition to boxing, the meaning of defeat, and the personal philosophies that keep him grounded.

Early life

Lerena was born in Johannesburg in 1992. He attended King Edward VII High School (KES), where he played first team rugby.

“In my early life, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to play rugby or if I wanted to do boxing, so I was kind of like in between,” Lerena recalled. 

“From a rugby point of view, I always looked up to Brian Habana. When I was a youngster, I wanted to be like him. I wanted to succeed on the same level.”

Before turning professional, at KES, he “played in the first team (Reds),” he noted with pride. 

But this was always balanced with boxing. “I started training from the age of 15, actually. I used to go to the boxing gym in the morning before school.” It was a commitment that would soon eclipse everything else.

In terms of boxers, he looked up to Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, but Holyfield more so.

This is because “he was a smaller guy who had to go through light heavyweight, cruiserweight, and heavyweight division to become a champion.”

After matriculating, boxing quickly took over his ambitions. “From 19 years old, I was happy to do the transition over to boxing full-time.”

A year after matriculating, in 2011, he made his professional boxing debut. “The victory was so good. I was super super nervous for that fight, to be honest,” he recalled.

From the very start, his work ethic was unrelenting. “I was training every single day without fail, twice a day,” he said.

He adds that his greatest motivation came from within. “I mostly drew inspiration from myself. I always reminded myself of what I wanted to be and what I wanted to become.”

Style, power, plus precision, and learning through loss

Having fought across multiple weight divisions, Lerena insists that his core style hasn’t changed — only the pace. “It’s faster, it hasn’t changed,” he said. 

Strategy, however, remains essential. “For sure, you have a game plan for each,” he explained.

Known for his knockout power, Lerena was quick to dispel the myth of brute strength being the main factor. 

“The key to my power is that I got good timing. I think good timing makes good power. It’s precision. It kind of goes hand in hand.”

That precision is honed through a strict, often exhausting training routine. 

“I train five days a week, sometimes three times a day,” he revealed — an insight into the rhythm that has produced one of South Africa’s most technically gifted and consistent fighters.

While his record is dominated by wins, Lerena admits that defeat has been a crucial teacher. 

“Losses suck, they never define you, but they take a lot away from you and I think in life, you gotta kind of learn from the losses,” he said.

The same philosophy applies beyond the ring. “You gotta put it in your mind that losses happen in life, whether it’s in the boxing ring or in life itself,” he reflected.

“How you move on with them is just learning from them, taking the positives out of everything. If there is such a thing, it’s a very contradictory term, but take the positives out of everything and move forward with it.”

To Lerena, setbacks are inevitable; what matters is how one responds. “In life, you’re gonna lose. In a fight, you’re gonna lose, but it’s all relative. It’s how you’re losing. It’s how you move forward.”

A day in the life of a world champion

Lerena’s days revolve around discipline and hard work. He trains five days a week, sometimes three times a day, maintaining an elite level of conditioning. 

Balancing family life with a sporting career is a challenge Lerena does not romanticise. 

“It’s hard to balance, but like when you wanna be successful and you wanna do your best, I always tell people balance is for the circus,” he said. 

“If you wanna be successful, something’s gonna fall on one side, it’s gonna fall on the other side. Maybe I’m too busy for my family at this given time, but at the end of the day, when I have time for my family, it’s because I’ve worked.”

Few athletes embody versatility like Lerena. Outside the ring, he is a qualified paramedic and a licensed helicopter pilot.

“There’s no greater feeling than saving a life. There’s no greater feeling and for me that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to help people. I wanted people to look back and say the champion, the champion that was one of us. That’s all. So that’s why I did it.”

He laughs off the suggestion that he’s a “jack of all trades,” but the description fits. “Yes, yes, I’m also a pilot,” he confirmed.

Despite the accolades, Lerena keeps his goals rooted in practicality. 

“The biggest key is not to oversee things, it’s to live your life to the fullest, but be mindful of the position and what you’re doing,” he explained. 

“I just stay mindful of what I need to do on the job at hand and what I wanna achieve. If I haven’t achieved it, it doesn’t slip my mind, but I keep evolving, cause there might be something else that comes up that I need to take care of.”

As the conversation turned to aspiring athletes, Lerena’s tone became emphatic. “My biggest advice is that through adversity comes strength, so never give up,” he said. 

“Never ever give up because if I had given up when people told me to give up or when people told me that I wasn’t gonna make it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.